Burglar bars trap 2 in fire
Hout Bay police rescued a couple trapped by their burglar bars in a
blazing house in Norman Street.
The house was gutted and the fire caused damage estimated at R250 000.
One occupant of the house, Mr DJ Kirby, cut his right hand. His friend, Ms JC Pretorius, was treated for shock.
Constable Stephen Share bent the bars of a security door to allow the couple to escape from the burning house at about
7am.
The Hout Bay forestry department's fire brigade put out the blaze within an hour.
Staff Reporter, Independent Newspapers, 1998
Trapped in a suburban fortress of death
By Selby Bokaba, Crime Reporter
South Africa's suburban fortresses, designed to keep crime a burglar bar away,
could endanger the lives of people who are unable to escape in the event of an emergency like a fire, experts have
warned.
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The advice comes in the wake of the horror death of
South African Air Force officer Jerry Botha and his wife Rika, who died when their Doringkloof, Pretoria home was
gutted.
Police and fire fighters had to dismantle burglar bars at the home to rescue the couple's two daughters, who were
admitted to hospital.
Pretoria police spokesperson, Inspector Gideon Thessner, said police and the fire brigade were called at 4am by
neighbours who reported that a house was in flames. Thessner said when police and fire brigade entered the home, they
found the charred bodies of Botha and his wife lying in the lounge.
Thessner said another group of police searching the back of the house found Cindy (19), who was unharmed and treated
for shock. She alerted the police that her younger sister was trapped in the house. Sonia was found unconscious on a
bedroom floor.
The police spokesperson said the couple's third daughter, Jennifer (17) was not at home at the time of the incident.
She has since been contacted. |
"The cause of the fire is unknown at this
stage, but it is suspected that it started in a fireplace. The couple was possible overpowered by the smoke and the
debris," Thessner said.
An inquest docket has been opened.
Greater Johannesburg's deputy chief of emergency services, Brian
Hogan, said some people who had installed burglar bars to prevent robbers from entering their homes ended up
barricading themselves in, making it difficult to escape in the event of a fire.
He said bars should be installed in such a way that they were easy to open in the event of
emergencies, and added that homes should have two fire escapes.
He cautioned people not to dry their washing on a heater and
not to overload an electrical circuit; if their was a fireplace in the house, combustibles should be placed far away,
he said.
"People die an excruciating death through burns. Imagine how painful it is being burnt on your finger with
matches; now, what about the whole body. It's an unbearable pain," Hogan said.
Independent Newspapers, 1999 |
